Mountain America and Arizona Coyotes' "Guiding You Forward" Program Donates $50,000 to Support Early Childhood Development
For the past two seasons, Mountain America Credit Union and the Arizona Coyotes have teamed up to present the “Guiding You Forward” Program, supporting Southwest Human Development’s early literacy and assistive technology programs. As the largest early childhood development nonprofit organization in Arizona, Southwest Human Development provides critical resources to 140,000 children, their families and professionals annually.
"Mountain America is pleased to provide adaptive equipment and expand literacy opportunities through our Guiding You Forward Program with Southwest Human Development and the Arizona Coyotes," says Sterling Nielsen, president and chief executive officer at Mountain America Credit Union. "Equipping children with critical resources early in life helps them achieve independence and reach their full potential."
This season, the Guiding You Forward program supported the following initiatives:
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MAKERS of Change Assistive Technology Challenge: This program allows high school STEM students to work in Southwest Human Development’s ADAPT Shop to create life-changing equipment such as seating supports, custom wheelchairs and walkers for young children with disabilities. This year, teams worked remotely to develop software projects that demonstrated their gained knowledge about the practical application of technology solutions to support those with disabilities.
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Virtual Little Free Library: Accessible on a tablet or computer, the virtual library expands literacy opportunities for families throughout the community, giving parents access to high-quality children’s books for free.
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Book Drive: In honor of Read Across America Day this past March, Mountain America and the Arizona Coyotes hosted a book drive at the February 27 Coyotes game as well as an online virtual book drive. More than 400 books were donated and will be distributed to children throughout Arizona.
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Reading Companions: This spring, employees from Mountain America and the Arizona Coyotes worked together to assemble reading buddies to promote early literacy.
“We’re so incredibly grateful for this ongoing partnership with Mountain America Credit Union and the Arizona Coyotes,” says Jake Adams, chief development officer at Southwest Human Development. “Each year, I’m overwhelmed by the amount of support this collaboration has brought to Arizona families and communities.”
With the NHL regular season coming to a close, Mountain America and the Arizona Coyotes Foundation each presented a $25,000 check to Southwest Human Development for this season's program. Since 2020, the Guiding You Forward program has donated $100,000 to Southwest Human Development.
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